The Graduate Linguistics Department was founded in 1989, in collaboration between Payap University and the Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL). Today over one hundred graduates from Asia, the Pacific Rim, the Americas, and Europe belong to the Linguistics Department alumni.

Master of Arts Program in Linguistics

The Linguistics Department aims to train future linguists who can promote the analysis, description, and documentation of the languages spoken particularly in Asia, fostering the ability of language communities to develop and maintain their languages, including the production of quality translation.

Why offer this program?

Southeast Asia hosts many languages belonging to five entirely different language families: Tai-Kadai, Tibeto-Burman, Hmong Mien, Austroasiatic, and Austronesian. Relatively little is known about the number, classification, and affiliation of individual languages in the region, and many of them are endangered. 

Only appropriately trained linguists can investigate these languages, guide the many communities who aspire to document, preserve and cultivate their cultural heritage, and skillfully translate or train to translate materials into their language. 

The Goal

Graduates of the program have the knowledge, ability, and skill to: